Alcohol
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Online Addiction Counselling · Paisley
Online addiction counselling for Paisley, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Paisley — from the town centre and the abbey to the streets around the thread-mill heritage — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
In and around Paisley
Life in Paisley
Paisley is a large town on Glasgow's western edge, famous for its textile heritage and marked by its decline. Insecure work, money pressure and real deprivation sit beneath a strong civic pride, and that pride can make admitting to struggle difficult.
Where the old industries have gone and there is a strong culture of just getting on with things, online keeps support discreet and within reach however stretched the week.
Paisley hosts the main campus of the University of the West of Scotland and is served by the Royal Alexandra Hospital, on Glasgow's western edge.
The local picture
These figures are local context from official sources — not a description of you — but they show the scale of what people in and around Paisley are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in Renfrewshire averaged 27.1 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, above the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
Addiction counselling here treats the pain beneath the habit, not just the symptom — alcohol, drugs, gambling, food or behavioural — so recovery is something you grow into rather than force.
The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full — the methods, what each session covers and fees — on the main addiction counselling page and on how I work.
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop — no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Compassionate, confidential help with substance use.
Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, guilt and debt.
Support for food and process addictions.
Help for those living alongside someone's addiction.
We treat the cause, not just the symptom.
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Paisley, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
For confidential information and advice, FRANK (on 0300 123 6600) and Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 are free, and Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery run peer-support meetings you can find online.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Paisley questions
Yes. I work with people right across Paisley, from the town centre and the abbey outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video — no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
No. We begin wherever you are. The work is about understanding the need the behaviour has been meeting, not passing a test first.
Yes. The same approach applies to gambling, food and other compulsive behaviours, because we work with the underlying pattern rather than only the substance.
Completely. Sessions are private, online means no waiting room, and everything is held under the BACP Ethical Framework.
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start — no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available online across Scotland: Glasgow, East Kilbride. See all of Scotland.
Other online support from Paisley: Substance Use, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.